Automatic record changer for phonographs



" 1950 H. v. ALEXANDERSSON 2,510,455

AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER FOR PHONOGRAPHS Filed Feb. 2.9, 1944 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIt \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\Y Patented June 6, 1950 AUTOMATIC RECORD CHANGER FOR- PHONOGR PHS Harald Valdemar Alexandersson, Lidingo, Sweden, assignor to Svensha Aktiebolaget Gasaccumulator, Lidingo, near Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of the Kingdom of Sweden Application February 29, 1944, Serial No. 524,354

In Sweden February 20, 1943 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires February 20, 1963 3 Claims.

My invention relates to an arrangement for feeding records in automatic record changers for phonographs.

Eor feeding records in automatic record changers for phonographs it has been proposed to use a substantially vertical centre pin, which has, however, been given such a form, that the part of the centre pin below the point of support for the stacked records, and the part above said point were not coaxial. In this way the upper end of the lower par-t, and the lower end of the upper part, form two horizontal surfaces, the distance between the surfaces being only a little greater than the thickest record which the device is adapted to handle.

In a known construction of the above mentioned kind the means for feeding the record from lay up position into feed down position comprises a shaft, turnable within or without the lower part of the centre pin, said shaft being connected with a member arranged between the surfaces of such a form that the movement of the record, the record to be brought from lay-up position into feed down position.

This construction, however, is not satisfactory due to the fact that the above mentioned member cannot be given a fully circular or in other respects well rounded form for the reason that the upper part of the centre pin is carried by the lower'part, and the connection part between the upper and the lower part of the centre pin therefor occupies a part of the place necessary for phonographs a fullycircularly round member in the above mentioned construction. Because the member hence cannot be made round, it is apt to wear the edge ofthe centre perforation of the record, so that the record will not remain in the position carried by the centre pin but, due to its enlarged centre perforation, will be fed down by itself or by slight vibration or shaking at a time when no feeding down is intended. The record then may fall down upon the pick-up arm during the playing, with the result that not only the record itself may be destroyed but also the record being played and in some cases also the pick-up arm may be damaged.

In order to overcome these disadvantages, it has been suggested to make the member circular, and to do without the fixed connection between the upper and the lower parts of the centre pin, the upper part therefor being carried by other means than the lower part. Such means, however, in order not to interfere with placing the 55 2 records in lay-up position, has been made as a bridge, which maybe swung in vertical direction about a shaft outside the periphery of the turntable. This construction also has not been successful, as it has not given the required stability, and as a consequence thereof undesirable dis;- placements have easily taken place between the upper and lower parts of the centre pin or post member, the proper functioning of; the arrangement thereby being made impossible, The arrangement moreover is rather large, heavy,. technicall complicated and expensive to, manufacture.

The present invention refers to an arrangement for feeding down records in automatic record changers, provided with a substantially vertical centre pin in which the above disadvantages are not present. In the arrangement according to the invention the lower and the upper parts of the centre pin are directly rigidly connected to each other. The lower part, however, carries a turnable, preferably concentrically arranged shaft, which may either be arranged within or outside the fixed lower part of the centre pin. The turnable shaft, however, is not rigidly connected with the member which causes the feeding down of the record, but the member and the shaft are separated from each other but coupled together by means of a motion transferring coupling. In this manner it is made possible tohave the member and the turnable shaft turn about different centres, which makes it possible to make the member as a circular or otherwise suitably rounded disc, adapted to the form of the centre perforation of the record, as will be evident from the following. As a coupling between the turnableshaftand the disc there is provided a slot, arranged in one of said" parts, co-operating with a pin, arranged on the other part.

The invention is further described below in connection with the annexed drawing, in which Fig. 1 shows an arrangement according to the invention, partly in section, and Fig. 2 shows the central part of the said arrangement in an enlarged scale.

In the drawing it] indicates the upper part of the centre pin or post member, which is provided with the horizontal surface I2, facing downwardly. The lower part consists of a fixed core 56 and a hollow shaft ll turnable about the core and has an upper horizontal surface ll. Thus the pin comprises a vertical member having laterally offset upper and lower parts. Three records l3, M and I5 are shown in stacked or layup position.

Between the lower and the upper part of the centre pin that is, in the space between the surfaces I I and 12, there is arranged a disc 25. This is provided with an eccentric perforation 30, through which extends a pin 26, the disc 25 thus being rotatable eccentrically about the pin 26. The pin 26 rigidly connects the fixed core 16 of the lower part of the centre pin with the upper part IU of the centre pin. The pin 26 may be integral with the core I 6 and may be driven into a hole in the upper part 10, as is shown in Fig. 2. The disc 25 is provided with a groove 21, for instance diametrically arranged, into which extends a projection 28 from the turntable hollow shaft [1.

The operation of the above described apparatus is as follows. The disc 25 is received within the centre perforation of the lowest record l3. When the hollow shaft l! is turned, the projection 28 cooperating with the groove 21 causes rotation of the excentrically mounted disc 25, whereby it is turned to the position in which it axially coincides with the lower part It, 11 of the centre pin. During this movement it brings the record l3 with it, so that this record is laterally displaced to bring its centre perforation in alignment with the lower part of the centre pin [6, H. The record [3 therefore falls down on to the turntable. The disc 25 by further turning of the hollow shaft I1 is brought again into the position shown in the drawing, and the next record M will fall down to the place, which in the drawing is shown as occupied by the record 13. Thereafter the operation may be repeated.

While I have shown and described one more or less specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this has been done for purposes of illustration only, and that the scope of my invention is not to be limited thereby, but is to be determined from the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. Feeding down mechanism for an automatic record changer, comprising a substantially vertical post member having laterally offset upper and lower parts, the adjacent ends of said parts having substantially horizontal surfaces spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of one record and less than the thickness of two records, said lower part comprising a rotatable hollow shaft and a core within a said hollow shaft, a pin located eccentrically with respect to said core and rigidly connecting said core with said upper part, a circular disc eccentrically and rotatably mounted on said pin in the space between said surfaces, the thickness of said disc being not greater than that of one record, and eccentric coupling means for transmitting rotation from said hollow shaft to said disc.

2. Feeding down mechanism for an automatic record changer, comprising a substantially vertical post member having laterally offset upper and lower parts, the adjacent ends of said parts having substantially horizontal surfaces spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of one record and less than the thickness of two records, said lower part comprising a rotatable hollow shaft and a core within a said hollow shaft, a pin located eccentrically with respect to said core and rigidly connecting said core with said upper part, a circular disc eccentrically and rotatably mounted on said pin in the space between said surfaces, the thickness of said disc being not greater than that of one record, and eccentric coupling means comprising a slot formed in said disc and a projection on said hollow shaft for transmitting rotation from the hollow shaft to the disc.

3. Feeding down mechanism for an automatic record changer, comprising a substantially vertical post member having laterally offset upper and lower parts, the adjacent ends of said parts having substantially horizontal surfaces spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of one record and less than the thickness of two records, said lower part comprising a rotatable hollow shaft and a core within a said hollow shaft, a pin located eccentrically with respect to said core and rigidly connecting said core with said upper part, a circular disc eccentrically and rotatably mounted on said pin in the space between said surfaces, the thickness of said disc being not greater than that of one record, the lower surface of said disc being formed with a diametrically extending groove, and a projection eccentrically located at the upper end of said hollow shaft and engaging said groove.

HARALD VALDEMAR ALEXANDERSSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,826,703 Batts Oct. 13, 1931 1,970,691 Collison et al. Aug. 21, 1934 2,287,098 Habegger June 23, 1942 2,293,703 Becwar Aug. 25, 1942 2,328,703 Becwar Sept. 7, 1943 2,351,242 Vaughn June 13, 1944 2,352,331 Leline June 27, 1944 2,355,790 Faulkner Aug. 15, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 590,941 Great Britain May 8, 1940 Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,510,455 June 6, 1950 HARALD VALDEMAR ALEXANDERSSON It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 4, line 58, list of references cited, under Foreign Patents for the patent number 590,941 read 520,941; and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, so that the same may conform to the record of the case 111 the Patent Office. Signed and sealed this 24th day of October, A. D. 1950 THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Oommissz'oner of Patents. 

